Breaking and Entering
by breakable-girls-and-boys
Summary: Trying to deal with her emotions after being betrayed by Nick and Andy, Gail is in the midst of her healing process when her new neighbor busts into her apartment unannounced.
1. Chapter 1

The door to Gail's apartment swung open with a bang. The intruder stood in the doorway wielding a metal bat, prepared to strike. The trespasser stopped short at the sight of Gail, who was standing in the middle of her living room, vase in hand, staring dumbstruck at the invasion of her home by the woman she knew to be her neighbor, but had not yet become acquainted with.

Gail spoke first, attempting to conceal her shaky voice, "What are you doing?"

"Um… I-I uh, I heard some crashing, and I, um, I thought, I mean, usually this apartment is pretty quiet, well, unless you've been out drinking, then you do some lovely karaoke renditions, but I never hear things crashing, so I thought, maybe someone was breaking in, and uh, stealing things." The stranger standing before Gail deflated a bit, the bat she was carrying in her hands dropped to hang by her side.

Horrified realization dawned on Gail's face.

"Oh my _god_, you've heard my drunk singing?"

"Well the walls aren't very sound proof…" the stranger began, a little confused. "Uh, so are you ok? No one's trying to steal all of your possessions?"

"What? No, of course not, it's just me here. Well, except for you," Gail replied. "Why are you here? Aren't you the new chick who moved in next door?"

The other woman awkwardly peered around the living room, avoiding Gail's gaze, while the rest of her body looked like it didn't know what to do with itself. Her left hand wrapped itself around her stomach protectively, while the bat slipped a little lower in her other hand.

"Yeah, I moved in a few weeks ago. I'm Holly, by the way." Stepping forward, the woman fumbled with the bat in order to hold out her hand, but Gail just stared at it. Quickly pulling her hand back, Holly continued, "I just thought, what with all the crashing and banging, that maybe someone was robbing your apartment." Holly's eyes fell down to her feet, Gail's incessant staring was making her feel incredibly embarrassed.

"And so what? You thought," Gail spoke, shrugging, causing water to spill from the vase in her hand, but she didn't seem to care, "that you'd come over to your _neighbor's_ apartment, a person you've never met before, with a baseball bat, and beat up the intruder?"

"It's a softball bat," Holly corrected her.

"What?"

"The bat. It's not a baseball bat, it's for softball. There are some minor differences, for instance, the barrel is more narrow than that of a baseball bat, and—"

"Ok, stop with the words. Is this a regular thing that you do? You just go around swinging your _softball _bat at home invaders? Because that's a good way to get yourself shot."

"Well… I- uh, no. It's not really something I do. I just, like I said, you're usually pretty quiet, so…" Holly's voice trailed off as she finally met Gail's eyes.

Gail carefully studied the other woman before speaking, "Do you ever have people in your life that you thought were your friends, but then you turn around for five seconds and they stab you in the back?"

"I'm not sure I understand…" Holly's brow creased, as she tilted her head to the side.

"Friends, Holly, do you have them?" Gail asked, a bit impatient.

"Yes?"

"Are you asking me, or telling me?"

"Yes, I have friends." Holly gave the other woman an exasperated look.

"You never, _ever_ break the cardinal rule of girl code." Gail was still staring at her, rather intensely.

"Ok, you lost me again." Holly regarded the woman in front of her carefully.

"Girl code, Holly, keep up. Exes are off limits. You _never_ sleep with a friend's ex. But apparently McNally forgot that rule."

"Oh," Holly drawled, a look of understanding broke across her face.

"Yep, so now I need to get rid of both of them." Gail turned back to the pile of knick-knacks taking over her couch.

"So you're breaking your possessions?"

"This," Gail held up the vase in her hand, spilling more water, "was a housewarming gift from Andy. She filled it with _the_ _ugliest_ flowers, but the vase is pretty, so…" Gail stared at the object for a moment before continuing, "But now it needs to be gone." With that, Gail hurled the vase into the trashcan next to her. A satisfied look crossed her face at the sound of breaking glass, water splashed all over the bag and some even landed on the carpet. Gail just grinned up at Holly. "Do you want to help?"

The question took Holly by surprise, she didn't feel comfortable breaking someone else's things on purpose.

Gail pressed on at the other woman's hesitation, "It's marvelously therapeutic." Holly still looked unsure. "Seriously, it's fine, I don't bite. Unless you ask." Gail winked, as she ushered Holly further into her apartment and shut the door. Then she handed Holly a beautiful necklace, taking the bat from her and setting it down. "Here, this was an anniversary present from _Nicholas_," she spit out the name with contempt.

"This looks expensive… Are these real diamonds?"

"Please, like he could afford to buy me real diamonds. No, if those were real, I'd sell it. But they're not, so here." Gail handed her a hammer.

"Um…" Holly just stared at the items Gail had handed her. She was very confused about how she had gotten here.

"It's quite simple, Holly. You set the necklace on that board on the table, and then you take the hammer and smash the shit out of it." A mischievous grin took over Gail's face.

Holly looked at the table Gail had pointed to. This would not be the first piece of jewelry Gail destroyed tonight, there were scraps of metal all over the wooden board.

She looked back at Gail, but Gail was just looking expectantly back at her. Slowly, Holly set the necklace on the wooden board. She looked at Gail once more, but saw no ambivalence in the woman's face. Holly took a deep breath in, and raised the hammer. With a quick breath out, she slammed the tool down on the piece of jewelry. When she pulled back, the heart shaped necklace was dented, but not completely smashed.

"You have to keep hitting it! It takes a few good whacks if you _really_ wanna destroy it," Gail spoke from experience.

Holly looked at her questioningly. Was she really going to enable her neighbor's destructive habits? Gail just nodded towards the jewelry, silently inviting Holly to smack the necklace again.

Conceding to the other woman's wishes, Holly slowly raised the hammer again and proceeded to smash the necklace, missing several attempts as she did so, until the metal was unrecognizable.

After admiring Holly's handiwork, Gail beamed up at the slightly taller woman. Holly couldn't help but grin back. Gail turned back to her pile of things, and searching through it, grabbed a very crisp, blue dress shirt.

"This is Nick's favorite shirt. He left it here, and after we broke up, asked me to bring it to work. But that's not going to happen."

"I hope you aren't planning to destroy that with a hammer as well," Holly chuckled as she spoke.

"Of course not!" Gail feigned offense at the implication. "No, we're going to tear it up into a million pieces, and then I'm going to put them all in his locker."

"That way you're doing what he asked?"

"With a few slight modifications, yes." Gail made her way to the kitchen, leaving Holly in her living room. Holly could hear things being rattled around.

"And how do you plan to tear it into a million pieces?" Holly inquired a little louder.

Gail didn't answer, so Holly wandered over to some shelves next to the television set. There were only three pictures that Holly could see in the whole room. One was of Gail standing next to a taller, handsome redhead. They were both smiling in the photo, as if they had been laughing. Holly really liked the genuine smile that was on Gail's face. The second picture, Holly assumed, was of Gail and her family. The same man from the first one was in this one as well. Holly inspected the first picture more closely; the two had similar bone structure, and the same blue eyes. Siblings, she suspected. The third photo was of a group of five, all in Police Academy shirts, all looking a little worse for wear. Gail was on the end, she had distanced herself a little more from the others, and it seemed to Holly, like she wasn't exactly thrilled to be in the picture.

"With these!" Gail returned, triumphantly holding up a pair of scissors, as she made a beeline for the shirt.

She waved Holly over, and shoving the shirt into Holly's hands, spoke again, "Hold this."

Gail adjusted the shirt in the other woman's hands, so that Holly was holding it exactly as she wanted her to. Then, she took the scissors and made a few incisions at the hem.

"What now?"

"Now, we rip it!"

Taking the shirt back, Gail demonstrated by gripping the bottom of the shirt, and with a wrench, ripped the fabric in half. She handed one half to Holly.

"Should I really be helping you with this?" Holly hesitated, while Gail tore the fabric in her hands again.

"Yes, you should." Gail shredded the shirt once more.

"Ok, but, there has to be a healthier way to deal with this…" Holly began.

"This is healthy. The other option is to slash their tires. Or shoot them," Gail said, rather serious.

"Yeah, let's not get you sent to jail."

"Please, Holly, I'm a cop. I could easily hide the evidence."

"Ah, well, I still vote for not hurting anyone."

"Also, you'd probably be happy to know I haven't had a sip of that," Gail pointed to the open bottle of tequila on the counter, "since you busted in here."

"Yeah, I'm really sorry about that…" Holly's eyes fell to the floor.

"No worries, you're actually pretty good company," Gail was still ripping the shirt as she spoke.

"Thanks, I think…" Holly gripped the shirt, and with a yank, ripped the fabric.

- *An hour and several broken objects later...* -

The two were now sitting on the floor, scraps of broken things surrounding them. It had taken Gail and Holly a good five minutes to calm down from laughing. This night was turning out to be so much better than expected. Gail had thought it would just end in her drunkly smashing things, until she passed out on the couch, possibly after crying herself to sleep. But this, this was a thousand times better. She really liked her new neighbor.

Once she could breathe, Gail asked, "Why do men always give jewelry?"

"I couldn't tell you," Holly responded, shaking her head.

"But it's like, for everything. When they're in the dog house, anniversaries, birthdays, holidays. Why not give something useful?"

"I generally try to get people something they want, or something I know they'd like. Jewelry is just, well it's kind of cheesy." Holly sat back, resting her weight on her hands.

"Right? Like how hard is it to get me a new Smith and Wesson knife? Or a new holster?" Gail's eyes glazed over, as she pictured the aforementioned items.

"Uh, that's, yeah… that's one example," the other woman commented. She looked at her neighbor for a moment, a lopsided grin crossing her face.

"Did your exes all give you a bunch of useless junk? Jewelry you pile up because you can't wear it anymore?" Gail questioned, picking through the debris around her.

"Well, yes, sometimes they gave me jewelry, but not always." Holly watched her neighbor inspect a mangled bracelet.

Gail tossed the bracelet into the trashcan. "But do you use any of it anymore?" she asked, meeting Holly's eyes.

"Well no. I guess not." The two stared at each other for a moment, smiles gracing both their lips.

"Exactly. God, I should be a lesbian, I'd be an excellent gift giver," Gail exclaimed, leaning back against the couch to stare up at the ceiling.

"That doesn't exactly make it any easier," Holly chuckled.

"What?" Gail looked over at her.

"Dating women. They aren't easy to shop for, regardless of your gender identity. Like my last girlfriend, she was _so_ picky. If it wasn't exactly what she wanted, I had to send it back and get the right thing."

If Gail was surprised by Holly's disclosure, she didn't show it. She merely nodded in acceptance, saying, "Oh god, I hope you weren't with her long."

"No, but it was long enough to figure out how controlling she was."

"Do you have some things you need destroyed?" Gail looked sympathetically at the other woman.

Holly laughed, "No, she didn't really give me anything of importance. She was kind of a terrible girlfriend."

"I hope you dumped her hard."

"Well, I like to think I was nice about it…" Holly thought for a minute. "Ok, maybe I was a little mean."

"Good."

Holly just flashed a lopsided smile at the other woman. Gail was starting to really like that smile.

"So, what should we break next?" Gail asked, looking around the room.

"You still have things to break?" Holly laughed again. Gail thought she could listen to that sound all night.

Gail stood up, stretching as she did. Her shirt road up, and Holly caught a glimpse of the woman's abdomen. Realizing she was staring, Holly quickly turned away to stare at the wall.

"What about these?" Gail walked back in from the kitchen. Holly hadn't realized she'd left the room. Gail was looking at her, holding up a set of wine glasses. Taking one, Holly inspected the glass.

"Why would you want to break these?"

"Another gift from McNally. For my birthday last year. I don't even like wine all that much," Gail grumbled, setting the other glass down on the wooden board on top of the table. Then she grabbed the hammer.

"What are you doing?" Holly queried, looking from the hammer, to the glass, and finally up at Gail.

Gail looked at her like the answer was obvious, replying, "I'm going to smash it."

"I don't think—"

But Gail slammed the hammer down on the glass before Holly could finish her warning. Holly barely had time to register what had happened, when Gail shouted in pain, "FUCK! Shit, ow! Goddamn it!"

"What happened?" Holly quickly stood, moving over to stand by Gail.

Gail was cradling her right hand in her left. That was when Holly saw the blood trickling from her hands down onto the carpet.


	2. Chapter 2

Holly bolted to the kitchen and, rummaging through drawers, grabbed the first towel she could find. Running back to Gail, she grabbed the other woman's injured hand and quickly assessed the wound. The cut was on the side of her right hand, and it appeared to be quite deep. With the towel, Holly wiped up some of the blood, the stark contrast of the crimson red on pale white momentarily distracting her. Shaking herself out it, she then put pressure on the gash in an attempt to stem the bleeding.

"Ok, it's ok… uh," Holly's brow furrowed at the woman before her, "I-I don't actually know your name."

"Gail. Gail Peck."

The two women locked eyes for a moment, something passing between them that neither one was quite sure of.

"Ok, Gail, it's going to be fine." Holly turned her attention back to the hand cradled in her own.

"Awesome. This is just great. OW!" Gail hissed and ripped her hand away.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Holly quickly apologized. She held out the towel again. Gail looked at the cloth distrustfully. "Please?" Holly requested.

Gail slowly placed her injured hand back in Holly's, and her neighbor resumed putting pressure on the cut.

"As soon as this stops bleeding, I'm taking you to the hospital." Holly peeked under the towel to check the wound. It was still bleeding, but the blood flow had slowed.

"No." Gail shook her head adamantly. "No hospitals."

"Gail, this needs stitches," Holly stressed, raising a stern eyebrow and setting her jaw.

"Holly, please," Gail begged, "Sick people, they go to hospitals and get their germs everywhere. This—this is just a small cut. It'll scab over." She tried to smile reassuringly, but it ended up being a grimace.

"This wound is deep, and I'm not entirely convinced there isn't glass in there. It needs to be cleaned and stitched."

"So we just run it under some water and put some soap on it and—"

"No," Holly asserted.

"But—"

"No," Holly maintained more forcefully.

"Then I guess I'm just going to bleed out and die," Gail stated, shrugging.

"You are not going to die." Holly shook her head, chuckling a bit at the stubbornness of her neighbor. Then a thought occurred to her. "Hold this, and don't move."

She placed Gail's left hand over the towel, showing her where to put the pressure, and started walking towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Gail asked, panicking slightly.

"If you won't let me take you to the hospital, I'm going to get my stuff so I can clean your wound. Wouldn't want my new friend dying from an infection."

As soon as she was out the door, Gail was beaming. Holly had called her a friend. She didn't know why, but it made her incredibly happy. Well that, and the fact that Holly was taking care of her. But Gail wasn't about to admit that she needed the other woman's help.

Holly was back within a minute, a red bag in tow.

"How is a lunchbox going to help clean my war wound?"

"It's not a lunchbox," Holly stated, setting the bag down and riffling through it. "And I could be wrong," she laughed, "But I don't think that counts as a 'war wound'."

"You are wrong. It's definitely a war wound."

"I'm never wrong," Holly cocked an eyebrow and grinned lopsidedly up at the injured woman.

Gail was stunned into silence. This woman was something else.

"Here we go," Holly said, pulling a clear box out of the bag.

She directed Gail into the kitchen and sat her down at one of the chairs, before retrieving her bag and the box, and setting them down on the table. She grabbed a clean towel from same drawer she had found the first one in and unfolded it on the table. Pulling a chair up to Gail's right side, she instructed the cop to unwrap her injured hand and place it on the clean towel. Holly reached into her bag again and pulled out a bottle.

"This is going to sting," Holly said, tugging on some blue exam gloves as Gail eyed her suspiciously. Where the hell had she pulled those from?

Carefully, she poured whatever was in the bottle onto the cut. Gail hissed, but didn't pull away. Mostly because, and she'd deny it, she didn't want Holly to stop holding her hand.

With the towel, Holly gently wiped away the remaining liquid and blood.

"I need to see if there's any glass in the cut," Holly said apologetically.

"What does that mean?" Gail's voice wavered minutely.

"That means it's going to hurt."

Gail clamped her eyes shut. "Do it."

Holly tried, as gently as possible, to probe the wound. Gail sucked in a sharp breath and shakily released it, as Holly palpated the injured area. There didn't seem to be anything stuck in the cut, but she couldn't be absolutely sure without taking Gail to a hospital.

The release of Gail's hand caused her to open her eyes. Holly had opened the clear box and was removing what looked like a sort of fishing hook, and, was that thread?

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to stitch you up," Holly stated simply, preparing the needle.

"Are you qualified to do that?" Gail looked skeptically between the woman and the needle.

"Nope," Holly said, completely deadpan. "The other option is to take you to the hospital."

"I trust you," Gail practically whispered, without a hint of sarcasm.

Holly's head jerked up. Bright blue eyes met hers, and she gave the officer a tender smile.

"Okay; hold still."

* * *

><p>Ten stitches later, Gail was all patched up.<p>

Holly packed her bag, while Gail admired the woman's handiwork.

"It's almost like you're a real doctor," she commented, examining the stitches from several angles.

"I am a doctor," Holly responded, not looking up from her task.

"Wait, seriously?" Gail gaped incredulously at the other woman.

"Yep," Holly replied, popping the 'p'. She began rifling through one of the side pockets, pulling out what appeared to be bandages.

Gail's mouth opened, then closed again, dumbstruck.

The doctor placed a large bandage over the stitches, smoothing it over gently, and holding Gail's hand for just a moment longer than necessary.

The injured woman shook her head, finding her words again. "So why did you try to make me go to the hospital?"

"Because your injury really should be x-rayed, make sure there's no glass. Also, I haven't sutured a live person since med school," Holly said, not looking up as she replaced the items from her bag.

"Wait, WHAT?"

Holly laughed, the sound of which caused Gail to meet her sparkling brown eyes, the confused and fraught look falling from her face.

"I'm a forensic pathologist. Also, you trusted me enough to stitch you up when you thought I wasn't qualified…" Holly narrowed her eyes, and smirked playfully at the other woman.

"Well, I—I mean, who carries a lunchbox like that around and _doesn't_ know what they're doing?"

"Actually, it's surprisingly easy to get one's hands on a suture kit."

"Holly," Gail lowered her voice, leaning forward. "Are you a serial killer?"

Holly looked at the other woman, and leaning in close, spoke just as quietly, "If I was going to kill you, why would I stitch you up?" She chuckled as she pulled back, standing to resume her cleanup.

Gail narrowed her eyes, and studied the woman now puttering about her kitchen. _This chick is… interesting. And smart. She's _definitely_ weird. And I like her_, she thought, nodding to herself.

* * *

><p>"Gail," Holly said, frowning. "You can't just eat cheese puffs all night."<p>

"I'm injured, Holly, which means you have to indulge me." Gail popped another one into her mouth.

"But cheese puffs are—"

"Part of my healing process," Gail uttered, still chewing, eyes never leaving the television screen.

"Gail—"

"Holly." The injured woman feigned innocence.

"Fine. Eat cheese puffs. Eat _only_ cheese puffs. And while you're at it, why not rub your hand in dirt? Not like taking care of your body matters…" Holly threw her hands up as she spoke.

"Woah-ho, calm down nerd. Why don't we order out then?"

Holly smiled, and she was getting the feeling that she could rope Gail into pretty much anything.

"Chinese sounds good right now," she proposed.

"But cheese puffs aren't ok?" Gail asked incredulously.

"Cheese puffs have zero nutritional value!"

"Chinese food tends to be greasy and covered in soy sauce, how is that nutritional?"

"What kind of Chinese food have you been eating?"

"The good kind," Gail spoke as if the answer was obvious.

"Ok, where is your phone? _I _will order us some food."

"But—"

"Sit. Watch the movie. I will order us some delicious food."

"You don't know what I like," Gail tucked her chin and grumbled under her breath.

Holly chuckled as she found the phone. "I have a feeling you're going to enjoy what I order."

Gail frowned deeply. Holly was actually quite impressed with how intense this frown was. She shook her head, laughing internally. _What a goober_, she thought.

Holly turned her attention back to the phone in hand. Dialing the number from memory (she'd called this number an embarrassing amount of times), she quickly placed her order, then resumed her place on the sofa next to Gail. Setting the phone down on the coffee table, Holly looked around the room.

Once Gail had been cleaned up, Holly had set her down on the couch, with a movie the injured woman had picked out. Once Gail was content, cheese puffs in hand, Holly had started cleaning up the mess they had made. She'd thrown away the broken jewelry and carefully picked up the shattered glass. She'd folded up the table Gail had turned into a makeshift destruction zone, propping it against the wall along with the wooden board. She even took out the trash.

Her gaze fell on Gail, the blonde haired woman was watching _RED_ intently. She smiled softly when Gail whispered a cheer for one of the main characters. She could not believe the night she'd had. The original plan was to spend the even in her apartment, eating take out and catching up on some reading. She was incredibly glad that hadn't been the case tonight. Her smile didn't falter as she turned back to the television.

Over halfway through the movie, a knock sounded at the door. Gail grinned wide at Holly, delighted. "Food's here!" she crowed, but remained seated.

Holly regarded her for a moment. Gail clearly wasn't planning on getting up. "Don't worry, I'll get it," she said sarcastically, standing slowly.

"I'm injured!" Gail asserted, as Holly moved towards the door.

"And I suppose I'm paying for all of this as well?"

"Only if you're offering." Gail winked.

Holly shook her head, pursing her lips, as she dug out some money from her pocket. Once she'd paid, she closed the door and took the food to the kitchen, placing the bag on the counter.

Suddenly, there was a face hovering over her shoulder. "Whadidja get?"

Holly jumped, clutching one hand to her heart, the other gripping the edge of the counter. "God, you scared me!"

"Sorry," Gail giggled. She moved to stand next to Holly, leaning her elbow on the counter. "I'm hungry."

Gail peered at the food Holly was pulling out of the bag. She saw a lot of vegetables (too many vegetables), some chicken, and steamed rice. Grabbing the paper bag from the counter, she peeked inside, it was empty. Gail dropped the bag down on the floor, looking over the food on the counter again. Not finding what she was looking for, she turned to face Holly.

"Everything ok?" Holly asked, tilting her head and mirroring Gail's position.

"Where is the fried rice?"

"I didn't order any," she said simply.

"How could you not order any?" Gail exclaimed.

"Um, because steamed rice is better for you?"

"Holly." Gail leaned on the counter, cradling her head in her hands. "You can't order Chinese without fried rice!"

Gail seemed distressed, and Holly wasn't sure exactly what to do about it.

"I-I'm sorry… Next time, I'll make sure to order some fried rice."

Gail lifted her head slowly. "Next time?"

"Unless you don't want to hang out with me anymore. Which would be kind of rude. I mean, I did save your life," Holly deadpanned, turning back to the food and beginning to dish out her own plate.

"Ok," Gail conceded. "But next time, I'm in charge of ordering."

"Uh…"

"You have to promise."

"I… promise," Holly said slowly.

"Good." Gail beamed and dished out her own plate.

"Oh god, what have I done," Holly muttered under her breath.

"I heard that," Gail said, as she walked back to the couch, plate in hand.

Holly smiled to herself, grabbing her plate, and following the blonde into the other room.

* * *

><p>Halfway into <em>RED 2<em>, Holly peeked at her watch. It was getting rather late, and she had to be up early for work tomorrow. She should leave, and she would. Soon. Ish. After this movie. Definitely after this movie. Maybe. She looked over at Gail, who was curled up on the opposite arm of the couch. She smiled softly at the sight, and turned back to the movie. She'd leave after the movie. Unless Gail asked her to stay a bit longer, in case she needed her…

"Yes!" Holly was pulled from her thoughts as Gail cheered for one of the characters.

"Ok, but is that really feasible?" Holly asked as a gun fight broke out on screen.

"Holly, this is based off a comic. It doesn't have to be feasible; it just has to be awesome."

"Ah, got it. My bad," Holly chuckled.

They watched the rest of the movie in silence, with the exception of a few fist pumps and whispered cheers of approval from Gail. Once the credits began rolling, Holly stood up, stretching as she did.

Gail totally didn't look. And she totally didn't see the exposure of the smooth skin of Holly's hip and stomach. And it totally didn't make her feel things. Definitely not. Nope.

"So I should probably head home…" Holly's voice trailed off.

Gail looked over at the clock on her wall, startled. She hadn't even realized it was so late. "Yeah, uh, ok." She stood and wandered off down the hall.

Holly was very unsure about what had just happened. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. So she stood there, next to the couch, mouth open, confusion written across her face.

Gail walked back into the room a moment later. She stopped when she saw Holly, standing there with her mouth open. Her brow furrowed as she took in the brunette before her.

"You ok?"

"Uh, yeah. Yep. Fine," Holly said.

Gail nodded her head once. "Here." She moved forward, holding out some folded bills.

Holly looked at the money, then back at Gail.

"For the food," Gail explained.

"Oh, don't worry about it." Holly tried to push Gail's outstretched hand away.

"Take it."

"Really, it's fine."

"Holly, take it." Gail tried to push the money into her hand.

Holly closed Gail's uninjured hand around the bills, holding her own hand over the fist for a moment. "Consider this an apology for bursting into your apartment like I did."

Gail glanced down at their joined hands, then back up at Holly. "You've already apologize like 800 times."

"So?" Holly asked.

"Besides," she said, much quieter, "I'm glad you did."

Holly gazed into intense blue eyes, a small smile gracing her lips. "Me too."

Holding the woman's stare, Gail timidly returned the smile.

"You can get the next one." Holly's smile widened into a grin. She held Gail's gaze for just a moment more, before looking at her watch again. "I really should go."

"Yeah," Gail agreed with a small voice. "It's pretty late."

"But listen, don't be a stranger, ok? I mean, we are neighbors, so…" Her sentence trailed off.

"Oh, for sure." She gave Holly a mischievous look. "I'm gonna have to repay the favor."

"Oh god, what have I done?" Holly asked, shaking her head as she exited Gail's apartment.

"I heard that," Gail said, closing the door.


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter ended up getting really long, so I'm split it up into two parts. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up very soon. It may or may not be the final part. So, you have been warned. Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>There was a sudden pounding at her door. Forceful, hurried thuds. Holly put down the article she had been perusing and approached the door. Peering through the peep hole, she was taken aback by one large blue eye attempting to stare back through the hole.<p>

"Open up, nerd. I know you're in there," Gail called from the other side. "Put down your nerd magazine, turn off your nature documentary, and open the door."

_I'm not even watching a documentary! _Holly scoffed. _Oh, wait, I did watch that one earlier about the… Gail doesn't need to know that. Focus, Holly, _She shook her head in an attempt to clear it.

The hammering sounded again. "Holly, open the damn—"

Holly yanked the door open, startling Gail, whose hand was raised in mid-knock. She stared at the blonde before her, unimpressed, and crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for an explanation. Gail just stood there, the goofiest of smiles now plastered on her face. _What a dork_, Holly thought.

When no explanation was forthcoming, Holly asked, "What?" She couldn't help but grin back at her neighbor.

"Get dressed, lunchbox. We're going out!" Gail barged her way past Holly into the apartment.

Holly closed the door and turned to face the blonde, her head tilting as her brows furrowed. "I am dressed," she said, looking down at her outfit. She'd been in jeans and what she thought was a decent shirt most of the day.

"Nope. We're going out. You gotta look hot. I mean, hotter than you usually— We gotta look hot, Holly! Come on." Gail grabbed the amused woman by the arm and dragged her to her room.

As soon as Gail was through the doorway, she released her hold on Holly, and made her way to the closet. Holly took a seat on the edge of her bed and watched her friend intently pick through her clothing. Gail haphazardly threw a few items Holly's way, all of which the brunette managed to catch. She was looking at the clothing in her hands when a dress hit her in the face.

"I'm sorry!" Gail spit out in between guffaws. "I thought you were paying attention!"

Holly pulled the garment off her head and glared at her neighbor. She stood and laid the clothes out on her bed.

"Well what are you wearing?"

"Holly, I'm already dressed. This is about you."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Holly practically shouted and turned on her heel to face Gail.

"Holly," Gail spoke as if she was placating a cranky child. "I know how to dress to go out. I always look good. But for some reason, you seem to think plaid is acceptable every time. You are going to wear one of those tops." Gail pointed to the clothes on Holly's bed. "And those really tight pants I know you own. Or the dress. Those are your only options."

"Okay, but why?"

"We gotta make the twins look good!" Gail walked over, picked up a shirt, and tossed it at Holly.

She gave Gail a contemptuous look and shook her head. She looked over the clothing again, then, gathering the rest of the shirts, headed toward her bathroom.

"Where are you going?"

"To change?" Holly pointed the garments toward the bathroom door as if the answer was obvious. Which she thought it was.

"No, no, no. I can't approve the outfit if you're hiding in there. Besides, how else am I supposed to make sure you try them on?"

"I can just come out and show you…"

"Nope. I don't trust you," Gail stated, crossing her arms over her chest. Holly gave her a withering look. "Don't look at me like that. What, are you shy? Holly, you're a doctor, I'm a cop, we've both seen it all. Plus," Gail gestured between them. "We both identify as ladies and, I'm assuming, have the same parts. Now take your pants off."

"You suck," Holly muttered, but did as she was told.

Gail averted her eyes as Holly did so, out of respect for the other woman, she told herself, but not before she snuck a peek. The blush that was creeping up her neck was definitely because Holly kept her room so goddamn hot (she conveniently forgot that Holly was a total weirdo who kept her apartment at exactly 20 degrees).

"Really, Gail?" Holly bellowed.

Gail impishly turned to face the other woman. Holly placed her hands on her hips, which did not help Gail's blush.

"What?" The cop feigned innocence.

"I am _not _wearing this."

'Why not?"

"Because I look ridiculous! My boobs are hanging out!"

"Holly," Gail slapped her palm to her face. "That is the point!"

"Gail," Holly sighed. "I am not going to spend the whole night tucking my boobs back into my shirt. I'm not wearing this."

"Alright, alright. Try on the next one."

Holly quickly removed the top and threw on another one. Gail immediately looked at the floor, trying very hard not to think about the light blue bra that Holly was wearing.

The brunette grinned lopsidedly as she tugged the shirt over her head; she had seen Gail checking her out, and she was enjoying what it was doing to the blonde. Or at least what she thought it was doing. Holly wasn't exactly the best at reading living people. Gail was straight. _Very, very straight_, she reminded herself.

* * *

><p>Several discarded tops now littered Holly's bedroom floor, Gail hadn't allowed her to hang them back where they belonged. Her reasoning being that it would take too much time and Holly was already "taking forever". She buttoned up the last shirt Gail had picked out. If this didn't work, Gail would surely make her wear the dress. And she <em>really<em> didn't want to wear that dress. Not tonight. She didn't want to spend the whole evening pulling it back down her legs and being uncomfortable.

"That's it! That's the one!" Gail stood from her hunched position on Holly's mattress. "All right, makeup, then we're outta here."

"I don't really wear makeup…" Holly absentmindedly scratched at the back of her head.

"Okay, uh, well. Hmm. I can do your makeup for you, or you don't have to wear any. I don't want to force you to do anything you don't want."

"Oh, really? Like forcing me to go out, or wear clothes I don't want to…"

"Shut it, Holly. You didn't have to open your door. And if you really didn't want to wear those clothes, you wouldn't own them." She pointed a finger at Holly, who was grinning amusedly at her. "And contrary to what you believe, I do know what the word 'no' means. So, if you can look me in the eye and tell me that you honestly don't want to go, we won't go. But I will be very sad. Just so you know."

Holly chuckled, rolling her eyes. "Fine, lets go. But I'm wearing my glasses!"

"Whatever, nerd," Gail said, walking back toward the living room.

_Oh god, what have I done? Letting Gail talk me into going out…_ she mused. It had been a while since she'd let herself really let her hair down… But still, what was she supposed to do? How could she just go hang out and pretend like every action of Gail's didn't affect her like it did? Like the way when Gail smiled just for her gave her butterflies…

"Ugh," Holly sighed. She grabbed her boots, throwing them on quickly, and went out to meet Gail.

"Finally! Come on! Dov's out front waiting for us," Gail said, walking towards the door.

"Why is Dov picking us up?"

"So we can get drunk, Hols. Duh."

"Right, of course," Holly laughed. She grabbed both their coats, handing the blonde her jacket as they made their way out of the building.

* * *

><p>"Why is Dov buying all our drinks?" Holly whispered in Gail's ear. "Not that I mind, I just… it's weird."<p>

Gail grinned, and, turning to fully face the woman next to her, began explaining, "Last week, I got off early from shift. I was supposed to go over to Dov and Chris' for a _Death Domain _competition, so I decided I'd just show up early and drink all their beer while I waited for them to get back. Instead, I walked in on Dov and Chloe defiling the kitchen counter. I saw _way_ more of them than I _ever _wanted to see. Ever. So, as reparation for the emotional damage I sustained, and in return for not telling Chris, Dov has kindly agreed to purchase our drinks for the night. So drink up, nerd."

"He did WHAT to the counter?" Chris asked incredulously, eyes nearly popping out of his head.

"Gail! You promised!" Dov exclaimed from across the table, his face a deep shade of crimson.

"Sorry, Dov. It slipped. You better keep these coming. I need something to drown out the visions of your pasty ass haunting my every waking moment." Gail mock shuddered as she took a long drink from her glass.

"You suck," Dov grumbled.

"My glass is empty, Dov. Fetch me another." Gail waved her cup in the man's face. "Holly, would you like another?"

Holly looked sympathetically at Dov as he stood. "Uh, sure." She started to stand. "Dov, would you like some help?"

"No, no. I've got it," He said, waving her back into her seat.

She settled back down and turned to Gail. "Do you have to terrorize him?"

"Holly, free drinks!" The look Holly gave Gail, told her that was not an acceptable reason. "I saw his _naked_ ass, Holly. Skinny, pale, Epstein ass. I endured deep emotional damage. He owes me."

Holly shook her head and smirked at the blonde. She finished her drink as Dov came back with a new one for both her and Gail.

"Thank you, Dov." She smiled appreciatively at the man.

"So, Holly, I hear you're a big hockey fan," Chris began, turning slightly in his chair to face the brunette.

Gail choke on her drink, causing the two to look quizzically at her. She waved them away, cleaning her mess with a napkin. Holly glanced back at her again to make sure she was all right.

"Uh," Chris regained his train of thought. "I was thinking, if you're free Sunday, maybe you'd wanna come over and catch the game with Dov and I…"

"Yeah, sure. That sounds like fun—" But Holly's response was cut off.

"She's busy Sunday," Gail blurted out.

Holly turned to face Gail, mouth open, about to ask what was going on, but Gail held up her hand.

"Hey, Chris, isn't that Doug from evidence? You should go talk to him about that _thing_ that you needed to talk to him about."

"Oh, I do need to ask him about that…" Chris' sentence trailed off into incomprehensible mumbles as he stood and walked off towards the man in question.

"What was that about?" Holly asked.

"_That_ was Chris' way of flirting with you and asking you out," Gail responded, playing with the stirrer in her drink.

"To watch hockey?" Holly questioned.

"Yeah, he's super lame," Gail answered, taking a long drink.

"That's not much of a date…" Holly's brow creased.

"No, but he's an idiot. So…" Gail finished her sentence with a shrug.

"He does know I'm gay, right?" Holly looked between Dov and her friend next to her.

"It might not have come up yet…" Gail averted her eyes as she downed her third drink of the night.

"Gail!" Holly smacked her on the arm. Hard.

"What?" Gail rubbed at her arm, feigning injury. "He just, he lit up like a child on Christmas when he would talk about you. And Dov and I didn't have the heart to break it to him."

"You are such a little shit." Holly smacked her again. "You have the heart, you just want it to be more humiliating for him."

Gail rubbed at her arm again and grinned mischievously, while Dov looked anywhere but at Holly.

"So." Chris took his seat again. "What are we talking about? Oh! Right. So, uh, maybe another night then? If you're busy Sunday…"

"Look, Chris," Holly began, placing a gentle hand on Chris' arm. "I think you're great, really, I do. But, ah, you aren't _exactly_ my type…"

A disappointed look took over Chris' face. "Oh, ok. Yeah, no worries."

"She's a lesbian, you nimrod," Gail said.

Holly slapped Gail's arm again. Even harder this time.

"Ow!"

Holly looked apologetically back at Chris, but relief washed over his features.

"Wow. Ok. Uh, I'm sorry I tried to hit on you." Chris smiled.

Holly laughed, and returned his smile. "No worries."

* * *

><p>"Ugh, it's still too early. I can't believe how lame everyone is being. Calling it in early. What a bunch of pussies." Gail pulled her jacket tighter around her, shivering slightly as cool wind blew past her.<p>

"You know, I take offense to that. Vaginas are incredibly strong." Holly zipped up her own jacket. She took a deep, cleansing breath of fresh, chilled air.

"My apologies, nerd. They're being a bunch of limp dicks."

"Wow, Gail. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Holly turned to look at her friend.

"Yes, I do." Gail grinned defiantly.

Holly shook her head, chuckling. "Well then, what do you suggest we do?"

"Hmm," Gail pondered aloud for a moment. "I feel like dancing."

"I know just the place," Holly said, a wicked look crossing her face.

"What are you up to, Stewart?" Gail's eyes narrowed warily at the doctor.

Holly began walking away from the bar, towards a busier street. "Wait and see, officer."

Gail paused, trying to figure out what was happening, and then she was jogging to catch up with her neighbor.


End file.
